I am not a subject matter expert. I do not pretend to be, nor have I ever had any intention of becoming one. I would much prefer to be playing with my children, writing music, improving and performing on my instruments, or even working at a job that allows me to adequately care for my family. That said, I have located and read as much reporting as I can find regarding Transgender Human Rights issues, globally. I’ve read a good many other reports, as well, but this is personal.

After being advised by a member of an NGO advocating, I guess, for people ‘like me’ that the ‘time was not yet right’ to pursue Trans* rights at the UN level, I felt the need to learn more.

When our leadership spends more time speaking about the tie or dress they wore to a White House function, or how great it is our Trans* children can now die in endless war, it’s time to look elsewhere.

The argument for which group is the most marginalized should never be entered into. It is pointless. It’s always an issue of class and perceived degrees of humanity.

Transgender reporting

With regard to documentation, who is included or not, and policy, I’ll start with the UN. It’s my understanding population data is provided at the national level. This from a brief discussion with Anne-B Albrectsen at UNFPA, “We work to make sure that all countries disaggregate data as much as possible. Nationally owned data is best”.

Can data collected at the national level, perhaps the easiest way to get data into the system, accurately reflect conditions of marginalized sectors? Would it not often be the policies of those in power that keep marginalized communities where they are? The issues of the Rohingya and question of citizenship come first to mind.

There is not a great deal of reporting on the issues of Transgender human rights, but there is some. Rather than begin by referencing reports from LGBTI advocacy organizations, I thought it more appropriate to start with recommendations and reports from agencies within the UN.

UN-counted?

After being treated at times like an uncomfortable joke at some UN initiatives that invited civil society discourse, I thought I’d start with their own recommendations. These recommendations never seem to make it to the mainstream discussions of Human Rights, or the General Assembly for that matter.

Where next?

One question to consider is why this type of analysis has failed to penetrate more deeply into UN and national-level policy discussions.

Another is whether there are risks from being counted – whether invisibility does not sometimes provide a type of protection. The discussion, and struggle for the realization of Universal Human Rights for any segment of society can never be put off for political expedience. If the goal is truly a crosscutting, transformative human rights agenda, then we must start by recognizing our shared humanity. The cost of silence is, and has been far too great.

We know some information at least is there, provided as shown in these instances by the agencies or organizations that do not appear to bring it into the mainstream. So, who does the counting and decides what to count? I’ll end here with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King:

Cowardice asks the question – is it safe?
Expediency asks the question – is it politic?
Vanity asks the question – is it popular?
But conscience asks the question – is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position
that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular;
but one must take it because it is right.